Welcome to active meditation.
In this meditation,
We enter the kingdom of heaven.
Settle in for meditation.
Close your eyes.
Relax.
Remove all expression from your face.
Take a few deep breaths.
With every exhale,
Let the world's concerns drift away.
With every inhale,
Welcome in a sense of openness and curiosity.
Hear these words from Jesus.
The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed.
Nor will they say,
Look,
Here it is.
Or,
There it is.
For in fact,
The kingdom of God is within you.
Jesus' kingdom is not a distant place or a far-off time.
It is the experience of God's love whenever there is openness,
Sincerity,
And willingness to receive.
Say to yourself,
Say in your mind,
The kingdom of God is within me now.
The kingdom is waiting to expand and flourish within your own being.
Repeat again,
The kingdom of God is within me now.
Jesus said,
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field.
It is the smallest of all seeds,
Yet when it grows,
It is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds come and perch in its branches.
You are standing in a peaceful garden.
The smallest mustard seed rests in your palm.
Now,
Press it into the earth,
Planting this seed.
Let this seed be laid within the quiet of your mind.
Its roots seek nothing but the silent foundation beneath all form.
You rest in stillness as time flows forward.
A green shoot pushes upward,
Unwavering.
Now,
You stand beneath the great sheltering tree,
Born from its humble beginning.
You realize how even your smallest act of trust or kindness can become a source of great comfort and belonging in the world.
You comprehend the truth that the smallest intention,
The tiniest gesture of faith or kindness,
Can grow into something vast and life-giving.
The kingdom of God grows within from a tiny seed.
This seed is within all of us,
Rooted,
Growing quietly,
Transforming our awareness,
Reaching out as shelter and warmth to the world.
The kingdom of heaven is within me now.
Jesus said,
The kingdom of God is like yeast,
Which a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour until it worked through all the dough.
You are in a quiet,
Sunlit kitchen.
A cup of fine white flour rests in a bowl before you,
And in your hand,
A tiny spoonful of yeast.
This yeast seems so insignificant,
So small,
That it vanishes into the flour as it falls into the bowl.
You mix.
The flour and yeast combine.
The water is poured in.
A gentle rising bubble of energy fills the air.
The dough slowly begins to breathe as life quietly works through it,
Unseen,
Unstoppable.
Minute by minute,
The dough expands,
Almost imperceptibly at first,
Until the whole is transformed,
Soft,
Warm,
Ready to nourish.
The scent of new bread fills the room.
The familiar,
Ordinary ingredients have become something alive,
Complete.
This is how the presence of the kingdom of God works quietly within you.
In this quiet,
You remember the kingdom is within you now,
Already fulfilled.
And ever at work.
Its light shines,
Bringing wholeness to every thought and every part of you.
The seed of truth was planted by our Father,
And it has already risen,
Quietly transforming you from within.
You need do nothing,
For this divine presence has accomplished all.
The kingdom of God is within me now.
Jesus said,
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.
When a man found it,
He hid it again.
Then,
In his joy,
He went back,
Sold all he had,
And bought that field.
You stand in an open field,
At first light,
Soft grass beneath your feet,
Mist gently rising as the world awakens.
At first,
You are guided by a quiet curiosity within.
Your awareness turns toward the earth before you.
You begin to dig.
Suddenly,
You touch something small,
Solid.
It is an ordinary,
Ancient box.
With reverence,
You lift the box out of the dirt and open it,
And light wraps your hands in warmth.
The hidden treasure,
Bright and radiant.
A radiant glow of inestimable value.
As you receive this inner brilliance,
A joy arises,
Silent,
Irresistible,
Deep,
Beyond the reach of anything found in the outer world.
It is clear that this treasure was always here,
Waiting for your willingness to look within.
No outer possession compares.
No cost is too great,
For this discovery is a remembrance of something always known,
Now rediscovered.
In the light of this treasure,
Your awareness expands.
All sense of separation falls away.
You recognize the kingdom of heaven is this inner wealth,
Hidden in the field of your own heart,
Found in stillness,
Cherished in silence,
Shared through joy and love.
In the quiet of this moment,
Rest in the radiance of your discovery,
Knowing this treasure is always present,
Conscious,
Complete,
At home,
One with all that is.
The kingdom of heaven is within me now.
Now sink into a deeper breath.
Say to yourself,
Say in your mind,
The kingdom of God is growing within me.
I rest in trust and peace.
The kingdom of God is growing within me.
I rest in trust and peace.
Let each breath draw you further into this inner sanctuary,
A place of stillness,
Beneath thought.
The living field of spirit within you expands.
Your boundaries are dissolving into something vast,
Luminous and loving.
You are again standing in a morning garden.
In your palm rests a seed,
As small and unassuming as a thought,
A mustard seed,
The smallest of all seeds,
Tiny,
Humble,
Yet within it lies a whole universe,
Unknown.
Press this seed into your heart.
Sense its silent pulse.
What begins as a whisper of presence unfurls unseen,
Rooting deeper and deeper.
Trust the smallness.
Trust what cannot yet be seen.
Something from within stirs,
Expands quietly and completely as yeast working in dough,
Invisible.
A subtle power moves through every part of you,
Transforming,
Uplifting,
Not by effort,
But by its nature.
In the silent depths,
The whole of your being is lightened,
Revealed as more spacious,
More luminous than you remembered.
There is nothing to force,
For what is real grows on its own.
The field of your awareness opens all around you,
Vast,
Simple,
Full of possibility.
Something buried calls from beneath the surface,
A hidden treasure,
Long forgotten by the world's distractions.
You brush the earth aside,
The distractions aside,
And discover this treasure,
A radiant presence,
A wellspring of joy,
Incomparable,
Undivided.
No outer fulfillment could rival this.
No purchase can attain it.
It is simply found when you are willing to look within.
The kingdom of God is here,
Now,
Not distant,
Not earned,
Not elsewhere.
The littlest act of trust is a mustard seed,
Tiny,
Unassuming,
Yet bearing the secret of immense transformation within.
Invisible growth is always at work,
Like yeast,
Quietly transforming the dough from within.
Like the treasure hidden in the field of which Jesus spoke,
There is a quiet,
Priceless wealth in the quiet center of our being.
The treasure of God's peace has never been absent.
It awaits the remembrance of the oneness we all share.
The kingdom of God is growing within me.
I rest in trust and peace.
Remember what Jesus said.
The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed,
Nor will they say,
Look,
Here it is,
Or there it is.
For in fact,
The kingdom of God is within you.
It is time to return to our regular levels of thoughts,
Feelings,
And action,
To time and space.
And as we do this,
Remember that we are one with all that is.
We are at home,
Whole,
In the boundless kingdom of heaven,
Now and always.
